The Wizard of Gotham
by TheVillageOfBree
Summary: an Arkham inmate awakes from a nap to find the asylum is unlocked and empty. Surprised, she escapes and finds herself sent on a journey to find Wayne Tower to help restore her sanity. a familiar story, set in a world that it really shouldnt be. I know it sounds silly, but that's the point.
1. ding dong the witch is dead

**I dont remember why i wrote this. all i remember is that im very happy i did. **

**please dont take it too seriously. **

**please.**

* * *

"Dorothy, come on, its time to go outside." An orderly muttered, gently tapping the girl on the shoulder.

She was presently staring at a crack on the roof, mouth open and eyes wide.

"Dorothy?"

The girl still didn't respond, her cell mate was sitting in the corner muttering to himself and counting on his fingers, Dorothy started drawing shapes on the plain white wall with her fingers and muttering to herself as well.

_She must have been overdosed on sedative last time she had an episode_, the orderly decided and slowly left the room to consult a doctor about it.

Once the young woman was gone, Dorothy slumped against the wall and crossed her arms, still glaring at the crack on the ceiling, she hated going outside, it was wet. She continued glaring at the crack like she was trying to make it move or something else phenomenal like that.

Her cellmate was still muttering to himself.

"How much gasoline for this?"

"How much for that?"

"Could I just blow up the girl or get her out?"

"Maybe I could take her hostage?"

"No no _no_!"

He was usually more talkative then this, but his medication had been changed and he was obviously still adjusting. Dorothy didn't like him much, he was too…touchy, always getting in her personal space and stealing her food at lunch hour, but asylum coordinators don't just ask, "hey, who do you wanna room with, honey?" they choose for you and you're stuck until the person either violates you or kills you.

Dorothy's roomie hasn't done either, so all things considered he was rather hospitable.

The crack on the roof still hadn't moved and Dorothy's head was starting to hurt, she hoped the orderly wouldn't come back with medication to 'wake her up' like they did after she pretended to be brain-dead some days; she didn't have _that_ sort of illness, of course not.

Truthfully, she didn't know what sort of illness she had; no one had ever had the decency to tell her. Dorothy pursed her lips and listened to the man on the other edge of the room.

"I could bribe the security guard with doughnuts" he muttered, obviously stifling a laugh and Dorothy tilted her head to the side.

"I don't think they have doughnuts in here, sir…" She answered and the man made a non-committal noise before resuming his muttering, not even glancing Dorothy's way.

How rude.

The young inmate's eyelids suddenly felt heavy, she was bored and when she was bored she went to sleep, but before her eyes had even closed Dorothy heard a loud hissing noise and noticed her cell door slowly swinging open.

She raised an eyebrow, "How curious…" she mumbled and stood shakily, brushing down her ugly orange jumpsuit. What was the harm in taking a peek right?

Once reaching the door, Dorothy leaned out, looking first to the left, then to the right, all seemed to be completely normal, dark and dreary as always. She turned to tell her roomie that he could get out of the cell now and was surprised to find him gone, had he somehow escaped while she wasn't looking? Perhaps he was the one who got the door open in the first place. Either way, Dorothy didn't mind, she could get outside the asylum walls and that was all that mattered.

She slowly stepped out of her cell and began tip-toeing down the dark and slightly damp hallways, taking note of the fact all the other inmates had escaped already, how had she not noticed this? Dorothy shrugged and continued walking, trying as hard as she could to remember the way out, the asylum had so many crazy twists and turns, ups and downs, it was a wonder that the orderlies could always get to their patients in time for sessions, let alone for emergencies.

While thinking about orderlies, Dorothy noticed there were none of them either, no one trying to get the inmates back in their cells or trying to find missing inmates like herself…of course this was odd, even in an accident like a fire the orderlies would try to help and get the patients out.  
Dorothy turned down another hallway, praying that this was the way to the exit when she stumbled upon a map glued to the wall, a gigantic 'You are here!' sticker was stuck on one of the many long twisting hallways and Dorothy bit her lip, running her fingers over the paths and trying to find the quickest way to an exit. Two lefts and a right, down a flight of stairs another left…there!

Dorothy's face split into a grin, the exit was so close, she couldn't believe it and broke into a run, down one wing, turn left, down another, turn left again, down one more, turn right, down down down, and there were the stairs.

They weren't just stairs, it was a grand staircase, split into two, each running down either end of the room, Dorothy felt like a princess walking down them, her bare feet touching the cold concrete of each stair, she loved the feeling, she always had, but she didn't have time to enjoy herself, she wanted to get out, _had_ to get out and so, she ran the rest of the way down the staircase, turned right and stopped when she saw the administration desk.

Dorothy vaguely remembered standing in front of that desk, her father signing the papers.

Dangerous, yes.

Crazy, yes.

She supposed both those answers were true, at the time she probably was dangerous and crazy, but the asylum had a serious problem with letting inmates out, even after cured. Not that Dorothy thought she was cured, no, of course not…just not dangerous anymore.

After giving the desk one final nod, Dorothy walked up to the giant wooden door, the entrance, or to her, the exit. A giant grin slid across her face and she pressed her small frail hands against the splintered wood and gave it the biggest push she could.

_Crack!_

Dorothy blinked, the world outside was beautiful, it looked like a quaint little town, with many small cottages and flowers blooming everywhere…oddly though, in front of every house was a police car…

But none of that mattered now, as much as Dorothy wished she could just frolic among the flowers and collapse onto a dry patch of grass, she had to find out what made that god awful cracking noise.

The former inmate slowly walked around to the other side of the door and was very surprised when she found –lying in a pool of blood- a young woman, not much older than herself. Dorothy grimaced, and not because there was a dead lady in front of her, more because of her outfit choice.

She had thick blond hair tied into two pigtails, the end of one dyed black and the other dyed red; she wore a low cut vest, so low cut that her bra was hanging out and _really_ short shorts. What Dorothy did like though, was her knee high red combat boots with black laces, she nodded appreciatively, almost like she was approving of the corpse's choice in footwear when a gruff voice came out from behind her.

"You killed the wicked witch of the east."

Dorothy blinked and spun around, her eyes widening at the site before her. There was a man in a thick black armoured suit, a black cape, a mask that covered all but his mouth and eyes with little ears on top, a bat symbol on his chest and…a pink tutu.

"Excuse me?" Dorothy asked while trying to stifle a laugh and the man crossed his arms.

"The dead woman is Harley Quinn or to most people, the wicked witch of the east." The man growled and Dorothy giggled.

"I can't take you seriously with that voice and the tutu."

"It's mandatory!" The man rasped and Dorothy smiled.

"What for?"

The man crossed his arms again, "I am a silent guardian, a watchful protector, the Dark Knight." Then he muttered something that Dorothy couldn't hear.

"What was that last part?"

The Dark Knight guy grimaced, "I'm also the good witch of the north on weekends…but you can call me Batman."

Dorothy started biting her lip in an attempt to keep her laughs silent, but before she had time to make a smart remark, Harley Quinn's combat boots faded away and appeared on her feet instead.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, looking down at her feet in amazement, "How'd they do that?"

"They chose you!" a little voice announced and Dorothy turned to see a little...policeman about as high as her knee.

Dorothy blinked and looked down at the little person before turning back to Batman again, "Where did you say this place was?"

Batman frowned, "I didn't. Welcome, to lawful land." Batman produced a pink wand out of nowhere and slammed it down on Dorothy's head, "Tada."

"Ouch..." Dorothy moaned and looked around the little town, lawful land, all the police cars made sense now.

Another policeman walked up to Dorothy, "Thank you for killing the witch, she's been annoying us for years."

Dorothy grinned, "It's alright, i just opened the door..."

"What door?" The policeman asked while tilting his head to the side.

"That one right the- oh!"

The door was gone, the whole asylum was gone, everything was gone and replacing it was a giant city with dark twisting streets, leading up to the cleaner section and in the middle of that sat a giant building with a neon green 'W' flashing on and off.

"What's that place?" Dorothy asked with wide eyes and the two policemen looked terrified.

"_That_ is Gotham city, the _least_ lawful place in the world!"

Dorothy tilted her head to the side, "And the Tower in the middle?"

"Oh! That there's Wayne Tower, the home of the Wizard, he can do anything!"

Dorothy perked up suddenly and turned to Batman, "Could he help me get my sanity back?"

Batman shrugged, "Probably."

"Wow" Dorothy exclaimed, "I have to meet this guy!"

One of the policemen tugged on Dorothy's orange jumpsuit, "It's a very dangerous journey, now that the witch of the east is dead...her boss his gonna come after you, and he is so mu-"

All of a sudden a giant projection appeared in the sky, with a giant face staring down at them, "_Hello_ beautiful"

* * *

**i actually have quite a few chapters of this stupid thing written... and might upload more in the future. i hope ill finish it one day, but im not sure. **

**thoughts? **

**-Bree**


	2. follow the monorail tracks

Dorothy looked up at the giant face looking down at her, his eyes were black like coal, he had greasy green hair and greasepaint viscously and messily applied, black around the eyes, white covering the rest of the skin and red stretching from his mouth all the way along to the edge of his face, ending in an upper curl, creating a sick twisted smile.

"_You_, killed Har-_ley_…didn't cha?" He drawled and Dorothy just stared up at him.

"Not intentionally!" She cried and the man started to laugh, a crazy insane laugh, the kind she heard in the asylum, the kind of laugh her roommate used to let out after he came back from therapy sessions. He always hated them.

"Your, uh, _in_-tention, is _irrelevant_ beautiful, all that matters _now_, is those shoes you got on ya. Pretty. Little. Feet."

Dorothy looked down at the shoes, wondering why they were so important, they just looked like any old boots…and they clashed horribly with her jumpsuit.

"_You_ don't know _what_ they do, _do you_?" The man above Dorothy's head asked and the young woman just blinked as he started laughing again, "Those _itty bitty_ shoes have unknown quantities of power, just _imagine_ how much _chaos_ I could cause with them…force people to _blow up_ their _own_ homes, _kill_ their _own_ families!"

Dorothy didn't understand how those boots could actually have powers! It didn't make sense!

"I'm definitely not in the asylum anymore…" She mumbled and Batman started yelling at the projection.

"Good will always overcome evil, Joker!" He exclaimed and the man –Joker- started to laugh again before looking at Dorothy.

"I'll, uh, see you _soon,_ toots" he said with a wink and the projection went to static before completely disappearing.

"So…that was, Joker?" Dorothy asked Batman, still looking at the space in the sky where the projection had been.

"Yes, he was Harley's leader and now he is after you and your boots."

Dorothy gasped, "I gotta get them off!" she exclaimed and Batman shook his head.

"Don't bother, only the Wizard can get them off."

The ex-inmate sighed in defeat, "I was gonna go talk to him anyway, how do I get to Wayne Tower?"

One of the little policemen pointed to the sky, "Follow the monorail tracks."

Dorothy felt confused, "What?"

"Follow the monorail tracks, follow follow follow follow, follow the monorail tracks!"

Batman groaned and viciously tilted Dorothy's head backwards, "You see the tracks up there?"

"Yes…"

"That's the monorail, Wayne Tower is the unofficial centre of Gotham city, you follow those tracks, and you'll reach it."

"Okay okay, could you let go now?"

Batman pushed Dorothy forward and whipped out his wand again, looking incredibly irritated, and then slammed it down on a nearby rock, which turned into a gas mask. Then on top of two little flowers, which turned into pistols and finally he slammed the wand down on one of the policeman. His shirt quickly disappeared and turned into a dual gun holster.

The man quickly ran away, feeling embarrassed.

"On your quest, you are going to need these." Batman announced while pushing the items into Dorothy's arms, "Always keep the guns loaded and be ready to put the gas mask on as quickly as you can, the Narrows is the most dangerous part of Gotham so when you reach it, be prepared for anything. That's all I can do for you."

Dorothy looked down at her pile of weapons and quickly slung the holster over her arms, slid the guns in their pouches and hooked the gas mask on the holster.

"Well, I guess I'm off to see the Wizard." She said with a shrug and gave Batman a wave before walking past the little picket fence separating lawful land from the rest of Gotham and entering the Narrows.

* * *

"Follow the monorail tracks…" Dorothy mumbled while looking up above, "Why monorail tracks?"

Her red boots made a crunching sound as she walked on some crushed glass and then went back to their clacking.

_Clack clack clack._

Dorothy liked the sound, it was rhythmic and she liked rhythm, rhythm and order, she liked them both.

What she didn't like though was her thick brown hair, which was currently being a nuisance and falling out of her ponytail, Batman said to always be ready, she couldn't be ready if her hair was getting in her eyes. She tried pulling it back and doing it up tighter, but the front bits just fell out again, Dorothy blew those strands out of her eyes and kicked an empty alcohol bottle off the footpath.

"Shouldn't there be some people around here?" She asked herself, sure it was a dangerous area, but it couldn't be that dangerous without a dangerous person around. It was oddly quiet, even the asylum was louder than this, even though most of the sounds were moans, cries of pain or the crazy laughs from Dorothy's cellmate.

"Is anyone here?" Dorothy cried, looking around the dark, damp area, breathing in the smell of old garbage and smog, bins had tipped over and bottles littered the streets, it was genuinely menacing, "Hello?"

There wasn't a reply, wasn't even a sound, the only noise that could be heard was Dorothy's own words echoing off the high walls on either side of the street and a black cat knocking over yet another trashcan.

Dorothy took a sharp intake of breath, her hand quickly flew to her gun holster, but she didn't pull the gun out…it was only a cat…only a cat.

"What do you fear?"


	3. if i only had some toxin

Dorothy's breath hitched, she could feel the breath of the person behind her on her neck.

"What do you _fear_?" The man screamed and leaned in closer, Dorothy could feel rough burlap brushing against her exposed skin and her heartbeat quickened.

"I-I don't know…" She muttered.

"_Tell me_."

"I don't know!" Dorothy squealed and the man quickly spun her around, she could barely see his bright blue eyes through the messily cut holes in the burlap sack and he quickly raised his hand up to her face. Dorothy turned her head away on instinct expecting to be slapped, but the impact never came.

"Let's find out then shall we?"

A fine mist sprayed from inside the man's sleeve and Dorothy immediately felt herself shaking, shackles were clapped onto her ankles and wrists, she could feel herself being pulled down onto a hospital bed with the burlap man hovering above her.

"What do you fear?"

Dorothy tried to bring her hands up to cover her face but they wouldn't move, "I don't need one."

"What?"

"I don't need one!"

"Don't need what?"

"I don't need a lobotomy!" She screamed, she was crazy, but she wasn't _that_ crazy, she didn't want to be a vegetable, she didn't want to have no life, no feelings for the rest of her life…she didn't want it.  
As she watched the little ice-pick move towards her eye she knew her mission was over, no Wizard, nothing, she hadn't even begun her journey and it was already going to end…Batman told her to be careful, he told he- the mask!

Dorothy closed her eyes and gripped onto the gasmask hanging off her gun holster and held it over her mouth taking in deep breaths and watching as the visions faded away, she was just lying in the middle of the street, no doctors…nothing.

She quickly stood up and brushed some strands of hair from her face, still wearing the gas mask and looking around for the man who had sprayed that stuff in her face.

"You're her aren't you?"

And there he was, standing a few metres away from Dorothy with his arms crossed; obviously irritated that his little experiment had ended early, but didn't seem to have any more plans to attack her. Dorothy slipped the mask off but held it at her side in case she needed it again.

"Who?"

The man gave an exasperated sigh, "The girl who killed Harley."

Dorothy blinked, "Unintentionally yes."

"And I guess you're foolishly attempting to reach Wayne Tower?"

"Yes, but not foolishly, I'm well prepared."

The man chuckled, "That, is the most amusing thing I've heard in a few years, if it suited me I could gas you without a second thought but as tempting as it would be to watch you squirming on the ground in terror." He sighed, "I must accompany you on your quest."

"Really?" Dorothy asked with a raised eyebrow, "How can I be sure you won't attack me again?"

Dorothy could bet a week's rations of food that the man was grinning under the burlap sack he was wearing.

"You can't." He said raspily, "But you can be sure you won't survive without me, Gotham is a dangerous place."

Dorothy considered this, sure this man did attack her but that was an obvious sign that she was nowhere near as prepared for this quest as she had originally thought. Having him on her side could prove useful.

"Alright, you can come." She held a hand out to him, "Dorothy Walters."

The man grasped her hand, "Scarecrow."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow, "You don't look like a scarecrow."

"I'm not actually a scarecrow, idiot. It's an alias."

"What's your actual name?" Dorothy asked curiously and before Scarecrow had time to answer she ripped the burlap sack from his head, revealing messy dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, high cheekbones and a scowling face.

"You got a nice face, why're you hiding it?"

Scarecrow quickly snatched the mask back and jammed it over his head again, "Because a 'nice face' doesn't strike fear into the hearts of innocent civilians does it?"

Dorothy shrugged and the duo started to walk under the monorail tracks.

"Why do you wanna come to Wayne Tower anyway?"

Scarecrow sighed, "I need the Wizard to get me declared sane again."

Dorothy looked over at him, "You're insane too?"

"No, of course not, people just don't seem to understand that. Once I get declared sane, I can start running Arkham Asylum again."

Dorothy stepped in front of him, "You ran Arkham?"

"Yes. Prior to my 'mental collapse'"

"Hmm, well I'm just trying to get back to Arkham, so I can get out of it. Sounds strange huh?"

Scarecrow took a breath, "Yep"

* * *

"Heh, looks like Dorothy has recruited Jonny-boy…my two favourite people, how rude of her."

Joker quickly spun his head around, "You grumpy!"

The masked man standing at the other end of the room pointed to himself.

"Yes you, could ya get me some more pencils? I gotta practice a little before our next encounter with Dorothy, scoot!"

The man lumbered out of the room and Joker grinned down at his barrel of gasoline where Dorothy and Scarecrow were projected into the liquid.

"Good luck getting to the Tower, toots."


	4. broken hearted knight

"So, where are we now?" Dorothy asked Scarecrow, they were obviously still in the narrows but the surroundings had changed entirely.  
"Where'd all the buildings go?"

Scarecrow appeared to observe the area, like he was trying to remember a distant dream or memory.

"I believe it's the old warehouse at 250 52nd Boulevard but it appears to be burned down, probably Joker."

"Oh…" Dorothy murmured, stepping onto the rubble where the warehouse had previously been, the remains of the building crunched under her feet, "There must have been a reason he chose to blow this one up…"

Scarecrow shrugged, "I was incarcerated in Arkham when it occurred, but as far as I know Joker enjoys chaos, I see no reason as to why he wouldn't blow up buildings at random."

"No, no, no. There _has_ to have been a reason…deep down, but there has to have been one."

Dorothy stopped walking.

"I hear something…"

Scarecrow stopped walking too and the duo looked out on the endless plain of rubble, a faint sobbing could be heard from somewhere out among the rocks and dust.

"Do you wanna check it out?"

Scarecrow sighed, "Not particularly."

Dorothy headed off anyway feeling drawn towards the sobbing person. She eventually found a large piece of rubble when the sobbing was coming from and walked around to the front immediately re-coiling when she saw the person.

Half of his face was fine, strong jaw, thick blond hair, deep blue eye, but the other side was completely burnt, right past skin and down to muscles.

"What happened to you?" Dorothy muttered as Scarecrow finally caught up.

"Dent?!" He exclaimed and the man looked up, as his jaw clenched Dorothy could see the muscles in his left cheek tightening.

"It's Two-face." He growled.

Dorothy gulped, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"This is where she died."

"Who?" Dorothy asked nervously, watching as Two-Face's lips curled in anger.

"RACHEL!" he screamed, the tendons and muscles in the left side of his face jumping all over the place.

Scarecrow leaned in, seeming suddenly interested in the conversation, "Rachel Dawes?" He asked, "She died…that's karma I suppose."

Dorothy looked at him over her shoulder, "You knew this Rachel person?"

"Knew her? Ha, she was the one who got me imprisoned in my own Asylum, one of the people who generously helped perfect my toxin."

Dorothy's eyebrows shot up, obviously this Rachel hadn't willingly participated in any experiments with Scarecrow, and there was absolutely no reason why anyone would.

"I should have died…not her." Two-Face murmured.

Dorothy looked at Scarecrow, she hadn't been in a situation where comforting was needed in a very long time. She widened her eyes, silently asking for advice. Scarecrow just shrugged. Dorothy slowly and awkwardly slipped an arm around Two-Face's shoulder and gently patted the right side of his head.

"There, there…" She muttered awkwardly.

"I just wish I could get her back…and rip Joker apart piece by piece!" The last part came out as a growl which made Dorothy jump back and cower behind Scarecrow.

"Well, er, Scarecrow and I are going to see the Wizard…if you wanna come…"

Two-Face looked up from the ground, seeming almost interested.

"The Wizard? You mean, the one in Wayne Tower?"

Dorothy nodded, "Yeah! I'm sure he could help you get Rachel back. If he's anything like people say he is."

For a second Two-Face actually looked hopeful, but the look quickly melted away. He looked back at the ground, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Oh, er…" Dorothy muttered, "Well, I'm just a simple Arkham inmate who wants nothing more than to become sane again and Scarecrow here." She gestured to the man beside her, who was fiddling with an aerosol can. Dorothy quickly swiped it from him and threw it away. "As I was saying, Scarecrow can actually be rather hospitable, great company when he's not scaring the bejeezus out of you."

With a nod of his head, Two-Face slowly stood from the ground and turned to face Dorothy, "So, you are positive that the Wizard can help me?"

The brunette nodded, "Absolutely."

"And neither you nor Scarecrow are scamming me?"

"'Course not!"

The burnt man's face twisted into an odd looking smile and Dorothy tried her hardest not to cringe.

"Then let's do this."

* * *

The company of three started to follow the monorail tracks further into Gotham with nary an incident.

Dorothy was feeling rather safe in the company of the burnt lunatic and the fear-obsessed psychopath, neither of them had done anything to harm her recently and both made great conversation. Actually, they made good listeners, neither seemed to be big on small talk.

"So, Two-Face. What do you like to do in your spare time?" Dorothy asked.

The man to her left shrugged, "I'm all spare time."

"Uh-huh…Scarecrow. What about you?"

"Experiments." He replied without even missing a beat. Dorothy rolled her eyes, knowing that she really shouldn't have expected any other answer.

Wayne Tower still looked awfully far away and Dorothy seriously couldn't believe that someone could have been stupid enough to destroy the monorail, really, if they were a little smarter then she wouldn't have to walk the whole way. She'd been stuck in a bloody asylum almost her whole life, it's not like she was in prime physical condition.

"Hello there!"

Dorothy blinked and looked at the two men beside her. They both shrugged, it was obvious neither of them had spoken.

After taking a deep breath, the ex-inmate stared into the dark street before them and almost jumped in fright when she saw something move.  
As it got closer and closer to the street lamp the three had stopped under, it became clear it was the silhouette of a man. A man wearing possibly the worst –and greenest- suit Dorothy had ever seen.

The man smirked.

"How about a riddle?"


	5. riddle me this

Dorothy was more or less confused. _Who was this man? Why was this man here?_ And, _Why in the world would he wear that suit?!_ Were all questions that were running through her head as the strange fellow before them gave an over confident smirk.

He looked like a creeper. Despite the fact his teeth were whiter than any teeth she had ever seen. She noticed as the man's eyes flicked down to her boots and back up to her face again.

It was obvious what he wanted. But why?

"Who are you?" She asked the man before her. "And what do you want?"

The green suited man grinned, "Please, Dorothy. Don't make yourself out to be an imbecile; you know very well what it is I want and as for who I am." He dropped into an over exaggerated bow, "_I_ am the Riddler. Prince of Puzzles, King of Conundrums and certified genius!"

Dorothy heard a scoff coming from the man on her right, Scarecrow didn't looked pleased with this Riddler fellow.

"Genius? Hardly, you are merely a freak with a love for riddles and an obsessive compulsive need for attention."

The Riddler's eyes rolled, "I should have expected this from you, _Scarecrow_."

Scarecrow growled but the Riddler just continued talking.

"No matter. We have some important business to discuss. If you answer my three riddles, you may pass."

Two-Face stared at him, "And if we fail?"

"You die. Naturally."

Dorothy quickly stepped up towards the self-proclaimed Prince of Puzzles, to find out if he could be reasoned with.

"Uh, is there any room for a compromise? Like, isn't death just the _tiniest_ bit extreme?"

The Riddler laughed, "I'm terribly sorry, dear. _I don't make the rules_."

"Then who does?" Dorothy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Tsk tsk. _I'm_ the one who asks the questions here."

"It's Joker isn't it?"

The Riddler prodded Dorothy's chest and pushed her back until she was back with Two-Face and Scarecrow, "You're very persistent, good trait to have. Not very useful here though, I'm afraid"

Dorothy frowned and her hand made to move toward one of her guns, but before she had a chance to grab one, Scarecrow placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her to stop.

"We accept your challenge. And we will beat it." He said with a growl.

The Riddler grinned and dusted down his suit, "Oh, I'm sure you _won't_. The first riddle, is for Two-Face" He said quickly while turning to the burned man beside Dorothy.

Two-Face took a step forward and stared right into the Riddler's eyes, "Ask away."

"What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?" The Riddler asked while rocking on his heels.

Two-Face thought about the question for a second or two before simply stating.

"A river."

The Riddler grinned and Dorothy could tell something was up, he didn't look impressed, he looked satisfied. Like he knew Two-Face would get the riddle right but why in the world would he want to let them past?

The ex-inmate's hand slowly slipped around one of her guns and she pulled it out of the holster, holding it by her side as Scarecrow stepped forward.

"Hurry up, Riddler, I haven't got all day." He spat and the Riddler rolled his eyes.

"The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"

Dorothy tried to think of an answer, she was going to be next and she had to find out if she had any chance of beating this guy.

The more you have, the less you see.

The less of it you see? Or less of everything you see?

Fog? When you have lots of fog you can't see anything.

Blindness?

They both fit…which one was it?

"Darkness." Scarecrow said quickly and Dorothy looked up at him.

Neither of her answers were right…this was going to be hard.

As she chewed on her lower lip and her fingers clenched around the gun in her sweaty palm, Dorothy stepped forward, ready to receive her riddle.

"Ah, Dorothy. The poor lost inmate, are you ready for your riddle?" The Riddler asked animatedly.

Dorothy took a deep breath and nodded.

"What walks on four legs, then two legs and finally three legs?"

Despite her situation Dorothy almost laughed, would a true genius really ask a riddle that had been so overused throughout history?

Practically everyone had heard that riddle at least once! Even her manic cellmate could get it right!

With an overconfident look on her face, Dorothy looked up at the Riddler.

"A human! When it's a baby it crawls on all fours, when it's an adult it walks on two legs and when they become old they use cane." She said quickly with a grin on her face, but that quickly disappeared when the Riddler shook his head.

"Very interesting response, but wrong all the same."

Dorothy's eyes widened, "What? But that is the answer! It always has been!"

"Sorry, Doll, but the answer to all three is a baby."

"Bu-but it's what I said-"

The Riddler smirked, "it's true a baby crawls on all fours but if you cut off its legs it can only move with two, give it a crutch and it can hobble along on three."

Dorothy's stomach dropped to her toes as she stared at the crazed man before her, the hand holding her pistol was shaking furiously and her knees were wobbling, "How-how can you even say something like that?" She asked, but before the Riddler could answer Scarecrow pushed Dorothy out of the way.

"She answered the riddle correctly; you have to let her pass!" He growled and the Riddler tutted him.

"You don't seem to realise Scarecrow, this is my game and that means my riddles…_and my answers_."

Two-face yelled and started running up to the green suited man with murder in his eyes but before he had time to even lay a hand on him, the Riddler calmly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Dorothy.

"Careful Two-face. You don't want to lose another one." He said mockingly and both Dorothy's companions backed away, "Good boys."

The young woman before the gun was trying her hardest not to cry, she could feel tears trying to fall but held them in, a small whimper escaped her lips. Her breath stopped as the man before her began fingering the trigger, a sadistic smile on his face.

"And the answer to your question Dorothy. Is that it's _not my baby_."

A gunshot echoed through the streets of Gotham and a body fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Somewhere in a warehouse far from where the dead person lay the Joker could be heard laughing as he watched blood spill on the pavement through his enchanted gasoline drum.

His peals of laughter disturbed the henchmen lurking in the room, but they were all far too terrified to say anything and just watched as their employer fell off his chair and rolled around on the floor like the madman he was.


End file.
